March 1, 2004
This entertaining first novel by an English television writer tells the story of Brian Jackson, an unworldly but affable college freshman whose main ambition in life is to compete on the BBC quiz show University Challenge
(a Jeopardy
-like game show in which schools compete against each other; in the U.K., the show is a national institution). Between securing one of the four coveted spots on his school's team for the show, Brian chases after two girls: Alice, a beautiful but aloof actress who is also on the squad, and Rebecca, an artsy intellectual who thinks Brian's ambition to be on the show is silly and bourgeois. A visit from Brian's hometown pal Spencer brings the class tensions roiling beneath the novel's surface to the fore, but Nicholls is more interested in comedy than pathos. Some of the humor is very British ("I'm sharing my house with a right pair of bloody Ruperts"), and Nicholls waxes overly nostalgic for his 1980s setting, but the writing is often sharp and funny (number four on Brian's list of New Year's resolutions: "Become lightly muscled"). Unexpected developments at the final University Challenge
match bring the novel to a rather unlikely conclusion, but readers will root for hapless, engaging Brian as he struggles his way out of adolescence.
March 15, 2004
For Brian Jackson, college holds the key to becoming a truly witty, erudite, and charming fellow. Unfortunately, he is basically a geeky, pimply, and na ve guy who listens to Kate Bush and secretly aspires to TV college quiz fame. He bumbles his way through his first year falling for the absolutely wrong girl, finding himself at odds with his childhood friends, and dealing with his widowed mother's newly revived love life. While he manages to survive an encounter with a friend's naked parents, his appearance on the quizz show University Challenge ends in ignominy, resulting in a transfer and a new start with the right girl. Recounted in the first person with good-natured, self-deprecating humor, this first novel tells a delightful coming-of-age story. Recommended for most public libraries.-Jan Blodgett, Davidson Coll. Lib., NC
Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from February 15, 2004
British scholarship student Brian Jackson has high hopes for his first term at university. He wants to go to classical-music concerts and know when to clap; conduct reasoned debates, saying things like, "Define your terms"; eat exotic foods that sound barely edible; and make love to sophisticated, intimidating women "during daylight or with the light on, even." Most of all, he wants to appear with his school team on the TV quiz show " University Challenge, "a desire born of fond memories of watching the program with his late father. Unfortunately a few things stand in his way--his humble background is no match for that of his posh peers, he is overly fond of gin and lager, and he is engaged in an ongoing medicated soap opera with his severely blemished skin. But Brian is nothing if not brave, and he throws himself into his quest for wider experience with abandon, landing a spot on the quiz team and falling head over heels for beautiful, wealthy Alice. In his first novel, which has all the hallmarks of a classic coming-of-age story, Nicholls creates one droll, perfect set piece after another. From Brian's James Brown-like dance moves to his excruciating encounter with Alice's naked parents, this is sublime and brilliant comedy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)